#animal loss mention

[gongedtornado]

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[little-tunny]

On the topic of pet loss, I drew this comic after my sweet Goopy passed away. I have a working list of art ideas, and for 5 long years at the very top of my idea list was “Comic where I take Huey and Goop to McDonald’s that ends with no punchline.” Every time I wanted to draw something I’d see that idea first, but always kept pushing it back for another time. When Huey passed away I thought about just deleting it, cause I felt like it was too late to draw it, and reading it made my heart hurt. But I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, so taking them to McDonald’s remained at the top of the list. Then, about a year later, I lost Goop to cancer. It came out of nowhere, and within two weeks he was gone. Almost all of my prompts were about him, I loved drawing Gooby. I was so distraught I couldn’t even turn on my work computer and face it. And when I finally felt good enough to draw again, there was that prompt staring back and me. And I thought, you know what? Fuck it, it’s never too late to take them to McDonald’s. If I can’t see them in life, I want to see them in art. I don’t want to stop loving them the way I do now. So, I took Huey and Goop to McDonalds, with no punchline.

[mitskiluvr]

watched the haikyu movie thinking it was going to be normal but unfortunately i came out battered bruised bleeding and 5 years younger, back in 2019 watching haikyu on my couch and trying to get my sister hooked on it

[achoirofcritters]

I unexpectedly lost my heart cat this week and I just want the world to know that he was the very best kitty.

[chocodile]

An illustration of Bani, my cat who passed away at the beginning of March 2023. She was my best friend. I still miss her every day.

A little writeup/”poem”(?) about her last few years under the cut.

When Bani was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in early 2020, I asked her to make it through the pandemic because it felt like the world was ending and I couldn't lose her, too. And she did.

When we moved to a new state in 2021, we asked her to make it for a while in the new house because I didn't want this happy new chapter of our lives to be tainted with such a painful loss so early on. I wanted the house to feel like our family’s house, not "the house without Bani." And she did.

When she had her first major health crisis in early summer 2022 at the same time I was trying to job hunt, I asked her to make it through me getting settled into the new job, because I was already feeling out of my depth and struggling with the adjustment and needed her support and love to keep strong. And she did.

When she was almost 18 in fall of 2022, we asked her to make it to 18, because I had been telling people for ages that my cat was "almost 18 years old" and I didn't want her to always be "almost 18 years old". I wanted to celebrate her birthday with her. And she did.

When we had plans to leave for Christmas at the end of 2022, we asked her to make it through until we got back, because it would be too impossibly sad for her to pass while we weren't here to be with her. And she did.

When my birthday was coming up in January 2023, I asked her to make it past my birthday, because I wanted to be with her on my birthday. And she did.

The winter has been long and hard and cold and miserable. Earlier this winter, before Christmas, Katie asked her to make it to March. I thought that March was a lot to ask of such an old cat. I wasn’t sure if she had that much juice left in her. I would understand if she didn’t.

But she did. At 18 years and 3 months old, she made it to March 2nd, 2023. But by then she was very old and very, very tired. Katie and I told her it was alright, she’d done enough and could rest now.

She passed away in my arms, on her favorite pillow, with Aunt Katie beside her, in bed, cozy and warm with a tummy full of cheese, just as she would have wanted.

[olliepurples]

MITSUKUNI ISN'T EVEN DEAD???

[blueskittlesart]

Hi! As someone who now kinda wants to check out Trigun because of the hype, do you recommend that I can start with Stampede? Or do I really need to watch the OG anime first to better understand/enjoy it? Thank you! 🙋🏻‍♀️

you can start with stampede! i'd say knowing the context of the original enhances the experience but isn't necessary to enjoy the show. I would consider stampede more viewer-friendly, especially for those of us who are used to modern storytelling conventions (the original suffers the consequences of general writing trends in anime at the time it was produced and of the fact that it was produced long before the manga was finished, so the story is somewhat disjointed and has a lot of filler which makes it REALLY hard to get into.) if you do end up liking stampede, however, I'd suggest trying out watching at least SOME of the original because it adds a lot of cool nuance and context to the story that stampede tells!

[mynamesnotdahlia]

What is it going to be like when Simon gets to the later stages if he cant die!

This is something i was obsessed with when first coming up with everything. I think that Simon is immortal specifically in the way that he will keep going until something kills him, so he can be killed but he will not die a natural death yknow? I think that his immortality stops him from progressing to stage 7 because stage 7 of dementia is endstage, it is when your body is shutting down and getting ready to die practically so I don't think his immortal body Can really progress to that, but that doesn't mean he gets off scot free. It means that he gets stuck at stage 6 which is around where you would place Ice King if you were to prescribe Ice King to a stage of dementia, and he is Very Ice King reminiscent at this point, he's confused and can't remember very much besides very Very brief moments of lucidity, like Ice King had with moments like how his journals and newspapers are still noted to be wet with tears in "I Remember You" showing that Ice King at least for a moment understood their significance, but that's the clearest he ever got. Simon is very Ice King like and everyone around him can see that and when he is lucid however brief he can see it, I have only briefly mentioned it but Simon's PTSD around being Ice King doesn't treat him kindly with coping. The progression is slowed by his immortality so he stays in stage 4 for a decade or longer rather than a couple years, he is lucid for a pretty long time so he does have time to cope with this change but there's never going to be Enough time. Stage 5 also lasts quite a long time and then stage 6 is pretty much his wall, he doesn't progress to stage 7. Alzheimers is usually a life limiting condition but immortality throws that out the window.

He is still very very loved, as much/more than Ice King in later seasons was though. He's very different than his normal self and he has a lot of trouble with his symptoms (I have a lot of thoughts about sundowning and wandering for him) but he is able to be fairly content even if hes quite unsure where he is, or who these lovely people around him are. It's a good thing that quite a few people around him are also somewhat immortal like PB and Marcy.

[mellometal]

You wanna know something funny? Literally the same day I lost Genny, she sent me another baby. I didn’t expect the cat distribution system to get around to me again so soon, but I'm happy my girl came through for me in her own way. Genny didn't want me to be alone. This little baby looks a lot like my girl. (Obviously they're not related, but he's a brown tabby like Genny. Please know that this doesn't mean I don't care about Genny. All of you know how much I cherished my girl and I always will. Her memory will live on forever. This boy is his own cat.)

Everyone, meet Emmett Belphegor! Yes, his first name is Emmett and his middle name is Belphegor. Lol. Those were the two names he responded to the most out of the several possible names I had picked out for him. The other names I thought of were:

Jasper

Vinnie

Leviathan (Levi for short)

Asmodeus (Asmo for short)

Hermes (the Greek god)

Aros (another Greek god)

Simon

Simeon

Ryan

Spencer

Ian

He's three months old. His birthday is December 3rd. There's a picture of him below.

Emmett was in a horrible living environment before I got him. He was living in a crate with his siblings, his mom, and possibly his dad too. The people I got him from also had an aggressive dog who has apparently killed cats before. (I'm not the biggest fan of dogs anyway, aside from smaller breeds, but that’s beside the point.) I've had Emmett for about a week now and he's still adjusting to his new surroundings. He's been hiding quite a bit in my room, but he's been out a lot more and roaming around. He's getting so brave and I'm so proud of him! I'm happy I get to continue being a cat mom and a cat auntie.

He's very vocal and feisty. I'm still trying to get him used to my schedule. It'll take a while because he's still a baby and all. What really sucks is that I haven't had a lot of time to fully bond with Emmett because of how hectic my schedule has been. It's a long story.

Just thought I'd give y'all an update.

[onlytiktoks]

[starlightbright]

In the end, everyone failed him. Including me.

My cat passed away earlier tonight. It wasn't from his heart. It was, more than likely, a collapsed trachea. I trusted the vets to know where his bad breathing was coming from (his heart or a URI depending on which one you asked) but that wasn't it. Neither of those match what happened in the end. It was my responsibility to advocate for him. To ask about why the wheezing had changed or ask about his windpipe. But I didn't. I put too much faith in everyone else, had too much hope it wasn't anything new, anything that scary, anything where I might have to make a choice on if he should have a potentially risky surgery. And I lost my best friend because of it.

The only consolidation I have is that he died at home and so at least his last memories were of us looking out for him and of resting somewhere comfortable. But that isn't much when there's even a chance that he could have made it through the night if he was given the right medication instead of a fifth round of the same antibiotic.

He deserved the world. The world didn't deserve him.

[the-bees-cheese]

one of my chickens just died :(

[sumi-sprite]

RIP Macchi - FIP Awareness

Yesterday around 4pm, I had to say goodbye to Macchiato "Macchi", my newest cat. She was barely a year old.

Over the past two weeks or so, she had been rapidly losing weight, but sported a potbelly. She was withrdrawn and exhausted, hid in my closet and slept all day, and was very warm to the touch. She only ate and drank periodically. I finally mangaed to get her in the same day I called. I initially thought - hoped - it was perhaps worms or a parasite since she was eating but not gaining weight. I hoped it was something treatable. I was even hoping it would be a tumor. Anything would have been better than FIP. The night prior, I had tried to look up her symptoms, and I ran across FIP numerous times.

No, can't be that, that happens to OTHER people. The odds are so low. It CAN'T be FIP. Famous last words.

The vet was very worried because all of her symptoms lined up. She had a fever of 105 F (normal temps for cats is roughly between 100 and 102 F). The vet said she was extremely sure it's FIP, and offered to run a blood test and test the fluid building up in Macchi's abdomen. There is no direct FIP test, but getting an idea of her hemoglobin levels would give us - give me - a slightly more solid confirmation. My nightmare was confirmed after it was shown that the hemoglobin in her blood were identical to that of the fluid in her abdomen, which is NOT normal.

"FIP is a serious disease caused by a feline coronavirus variant, though not the one that causes COVID-19. The virus will spread through a cat's body causing systemic inflammation. Up to 95% of cats diagnosed with FIP die without treatment."

It is caused by a mutation of the Coronovirus in cats, and generally afflicts kittens or young cats between three weeks to two years of age. Macchi may have been carrying the mutated variety for any length of time, possibly since we adopted her. It's thankfully not contagious after its mutation, so our other cat, Jade, is not at risk. It generally spreads through fecal contact, which, in a multi-cat home is nearly impossible to avoid if the cats share litterboxes.

There is no cure and no treatment.

The vet was tentative in explaining that there is an experimental drug in Europe that has shown incredible results. But here's the catch: It's not legal, it's not approved for commercial use, it's not available in the US, and tests plus administration would cost more than my university semester tuition. There have been people smuggling the drug to the US, and many cats have recovered beautifully - but only when FIP was caught in time.

I could never afford the treatment, and Macchi clearly did not have long to live. She would not make it to treatment after waiting so many weeks to get the drug to her. And besides that, the vet and I both agreed she was too far gone for it to help either way.

I took too long to get her help. I thought she was stressed from our move and being in a less than ideal living space. But even if I got her in sooner, I wouldn't have been able to even afford getting her help.

Wanna know what the odds are of a cat contracting FIP are? According to VCA: 

"The incidence of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) disease is low (only 5 to 10% of infected cats and less than 1% of cats admitted to veterinary hospitals)." 

Yep. Roughly 5-10% of cats who caught Corona will experience the mutation, and less than 1% - 1 fucking percent - get to a pet hospital. Most cats develop the immunity to fight FIP and can go on perfectly healthy. Not Macchi though. Macchi was part of that 1%. One. Fucking. Percent.

This disease has NO treatment, NO cure, and it is VERY hard to diagnose. It is almost always 100% fatal in cases where a cat isn't able to fight off the mutated strain. It progresses rapidly and often without warning. Some cats may not display any symptoms for weeks, and then it all comes down full force all at once. My cat was perfectly fine up until two weeks ago, then she lost almost half her body weight, her muscles attrofied, and she lost the strength to fight it off. Her tests showed she was in the beginnings of multi organ failure. Less than two weeks, and she didn't have a snowballs chance in hell.

Please, PLEASE. For the love of god, keep an eye on your young cats and kittens - even your adult and senior cats. If any of them display symptoms, GET THEM TO A VET. There is a "dry" and "wet" variety to FIP. Macchi had the "wet" variety - where her intestines (primarily the stomach, large and small intenstines, etc) were shedding massive amounts of fluid. It can occure in the respiratory systems too. The "dry" variety presents as horrible multi or singular organ inflamation, with common locations being the liver, eyes, and even the brain.

Read up more information HERE

You're probably thinking that this can't happen to your cat. Like I said, Macchi just sadly fell into that 1% fatality. I thought that same thing, and yet here I am. Barely a year after losing my oldest cat, Max, and I had to say goodbye to another cat when she was barely a year old. Everything was fine, she was healthy and her usual, hamburger-faced self. Two weeks changed that. I had only a few minutes to come to terms with the fact that she was suffering, there was nothing I could do, and the most humane thing I could do was let her go. It takes roughly thirty seconds for euthenasia to stop a cat's heart.

Two weeks, a few minutes, thirty seconds. That's all she got.

I miss her, and I hope if just ONE person reads this, and it motivates them in someway to be more watchful of their cat; if I can make just one person aware, then I won't consider her loss meaningless. Maybe it's out of guilt. I don't know and I don't care, I just need people to know how serious this is and how quickly it can take a cat's life.

Please be safe, and keep your cats safe. Again, read up on FIP HERE

I love you and miss you, Macchi.

[spacebugarts]

Sadly, we had to put down my sweet boy Kitter last week, and today we were finally able to pick up his remains and paw prints (and also I've apparently been spelling his name wrong this whole time but whatever, I like Kitter better.) So I thought I'd take the time to post a little tribute for him, to honor his legacy. Short eulogy and more photos under the cut

We found him on our yard, taking shelter under my dad's truck, and Gramma started feeding him shortly after. We decided to take him in after copious pleading from my sister and I. He loved yogurt and always begged for chicken by propping himself up on your legs and very gently tapping your arm with his paws. He also begged for tacos and enchiladas, and one time I caught him stealing some off the table. We started taking better care of the leftovers after that...

He was skittish and antisocial for most of his life, but he grew more open and loving as he got older. He followed Mom around like a lost puppy, and his purr was my favorite sound in the world. He was terrified of balloons and plastic bags after an incident where one got stuck to him and "chased" him around the house. He loved laying under our christmas tree and admiring the lights every year.

I'll never forget the time he got out and went missing for a few days, and Mom got so excited when she thought she found him, but she ended up bringing in an entirely different cat! He came back to us a little while later, and at that point she finally believed me when I told her it wasn't Kitter.

He was a constant source of joy in my life, and I'm so glad we got to spend 16 wonderful years together. I love you Kitter, you were the best boy ❤️ I hope you're getting many pets from Gramma and Grampa, and once again stealing Buddy's dog food lol